Runway

Runway = current cash ÷ monthly net burn. It's the survival clock: the number of months until your bank balance hits zero if nothing changes. It's calculated from cash (the balance sheet) and net burn (cash in vs cash out), not from profitability — which is why a company with strong reported revenue can have dangerously short runway if receivables aren't converting.

Runway is the metric that governs fundraising timing, hiring plans, and spending discipline. Most investors expect 12–18 months of runway when you enter a fundraise — less than that and you're negotiating from weakness. The number is also purely conditional: it assumes burn stays constant, which it won't if you're hiring aggressively or if a big customer pays late. Founders who recalculate runway monthly from actual cash, not from a plan, make better calls about when to raise and when to cut.